New photos of our house

Hello, everyone! I've added a few posts to my blog in case anyone is
interested in checking out the latest photos of our house that is
under construction (and nearing completion).
Choosing a Hot Water Heater and Water Softener
http://www.mynewoldhouse.com/house/article/67/Choosing-a-Hot-Water-Heater-and-Water-Softener.aspx
Preparing For Drywall Finishing With Red Paper
http://www.mynewoldhouse.com/house/article/66/Preparing-For-Drywall-Finishing-With-Red-Paper.aspx
Cutting Holes In Drywall For In-Ceiling Speakers
http://www.mynewoldhouse.com/house/article/68/Cutting-Holes-In-Drywall-For-In-Ceiling-Speakers.aspx
Cutting In And Other Painting Fun
http://www.mynewoldhouse.com/house/article/69/Cutting-In-And-Other-Painting-Fun.aspx
Italianate Cottage: A New Old House In Charlmette, Louisiana
http://www.mynewoldhouse.com/house/article/65/Italianate-Cottage-A-New-Old-House-In-Charlmette,-Louisiana.aspx
...that last one is the first entry in our blog for another "new old
house" besides ours. If you guys know anyone else who would like to
submit photos and a story for their "new old house" let me know. It's
kind of fun to learn about other people's "new old houses."
- John

I've never done in-ceiling speakers, but did you soundproof above them
so they don't transmit sound through to the bedrooms above and keep
the kinder up all night?
BTW, why is it hard to make holes smaller? Not much different than
patching a hole. In 20 years you won't be worrying about the size of
the holes, you'll be selling to Miamicruise who will be trying to
figure out why the speakers are there in the first place. Miami is
the only one who would buy it because of the documents fire and
collapse during construction.
Meanwhile, your headaches will have finally disappeared as the
waterseal that you applied to the decking finally outgassed.

The amount of bass that can be transmitted through the floor by
ceiling speakers is unbelievable. You have to insulate over and
around the speaker or the joist bay will act as a huge resonator
designed to amplify bass - a drum. It is also a good idea to use
dense rubber mounting blocks under the retaining screw wings and a
foam gasket between the ceiling and the mounting flange.
R

Wow! Thanks for the heads-up, you guys! I'm going to do some
research and find out what I need to do to make sure that the chil'n
aren't kept awake at night from the audio of my nature videos. I'll
probably first see how it works as-is, since it's a 6.1 system and all
bass will be coming from the subwoofer. Plus, they're not bass reflex
speakers, so all the sound should be pointed down. If I need
soundproofing, maybe there's something I can spray inside the joist
cavity? I think I'll contact the manufacturer for advice. Thanks
again!!!
- J

As Don mentions in a post, the speakers are make for this so it isn't
like installing a car speaker in the wall, but still, all you have is
the subfloor and maybe a rug between you and the upstairs. Rico's
mentioning the use of rubber washers in a good ideal. At a minimum,
make sure that nothing is screwed solid into the wood. You want to
use rubber or something to insulate the speakers from the house.

The gaskets are fine for isolating the vibrations but there is no way to
stop the sound from transferring through that 3/4" plywood flooring, even if
it has tile on top of it.
Steel cases with baffles like I had will help but its still going to occur.
For a ceiling installation, with a sleeping room above, I'd go with surface
mount speakers and fill the joist cavity above with sound absorbing material
(expensive, see www.crutchfield.com ).
If the room in question has an 8' ceiling this is probably not an option.

My house is plaster and lathe, so I wouldn't worry too much about
surface mounted speakers -- you could set off a small bomb in one room
and not hear it in the next. But sheetrock is a different story, but
I agree, I would surface mount them -- but it's too late for that. He
said it's too hard to make a hole smaller so patching it would be out
of the question ;-)
I would surface mount them and use something like the rubberized mouse-
pad material in isolate the speaker from the wall.
But if he's stuck with what he's got and he's not willing to burn it
down and do it right this time (again), then maybe he should either
stuff it full of fiberglass or spray it with foam insulation.
He might also want to put a brick or something up through the hole to
put a load on the sheetrock so it doesn't act like a large sound-
board. I don't know. I guess this is why you get pro installation.
Hey, better yet, maybe he should check and see what the architect
spec'd.

Any speaker with a decent magnet is gonna have that drywall bowing down,
bad!
Hell, under the right sonic load it could tear loose and swing down by the
wire and knock somebody out. LOL

Ha!
The last time I spec'd ceiling speakers was back in the 80's for some Nutone
intercoms.
Speakers meant for music & movies are directional and its not normal to hear
*stuff* coming from the ceiling.
**Unless gawd is speaking.......or Carl Palmers levitationg drum
cage........

Hell, under the right sonic load it could tear loose and swing down
by the
wire and knock somebody out. LOL
Hey, call Mythbusters. We need to see if that's true. And if so,
lets get some video of it. That's be cool to see.

Maybe the building inspector will know. Let's suggest that he call
and ask!

This isn't for anyone serious about music. It's for people who can't stand
the little voice in their heads telling them that they've squandered their
lives, and that no amount of consumption is going to fix that.

LOL, I wanna party wif this dood.
Guess what?
I'm one of those people that can hear the diff between analog and digital.
I'd heard about this for years and didn't know what the deal was.
Then one night 'bout 5 years ago I was listening to some albums, remember
them?, and then changed to mp3's and I instantly heard the difference.
The best way I can describe it in a written format is like this:
This is analog:
. . . .
. . . .
. . . .
. . . .
(its supposed to look *curved*, sine wave.
This is digital:
---- ---- ----- -----
|___| |___| |___|
(a square sine wave)
The bottom and top are cut off, rather sharply.
The first time I heard this I had to look at my setting to make sure
everything was proper.
BTW: I also have 2 reel to reel tape recorders.
A 2 channel Pioneer with 10" reels and a Sansui 4 channel with 7" reels.
And 4 turntables, 1 is 4 channel.
I collect this stuff, have close to 100 pieces.......

Sorry. I knew that was a bit harsh when I hit "post". I do these built-in
systems when people ask for it, but none of them are audiophiles, or
seriously into music. They are tourists. Most of them could benefit from
some quiet contemplation IMHO.

You're not alone. Digital is like a very fine diamond ceramic saw blade, and
analogue is like warm chocolate fondue.
I've recently been ripping my vinyl collection for distribution through a
'network receiver', mainly to free up space in the living room. The
turntable and amp is under my desk. I made a good run at it but have slowed
recently....I'm running out of steam. I want to fix every pop, and there are
so many albums.
I've been lurking in some audio groups since hatching the plan to digitize
everything...it's amazing how much equipment purchased when I had (long)
hair is still out there working, and how many people are out there looking
for parts to keep them running.

Nod.
When I came back from Germany in 78 I had several thousand dollars worth of
stuff which I gave up through a bad decision.
Never thought I'd see stuff like that again.
Then in 1998 I discovered ebay and the rest is history.
I blew $15k + in one year on 70's vintage Pioneer and Sansui stuff.
I don't listen to music much anymore but when I do I prefer very high
quality delivery.
I have a couple friends in FL that have spent insane amounts of money of
this stuff.
Like, $1500 for a turntable cartridge. Please.......

I think you probably slowed down because you kept hitting your head on
the desk.
Don keeps his under the desk to so his wife can change records, but
that's a different story.
I made a good run at it but have slowed

Heh... the new cottage we bought will host a lot of our old stuff that is
stored up on our loft bed in our apartment in the city. Some of that
includes the 400+ vinyl's I can't wait to listen to again since I only
played about 90% of them once to record on tape in the 70's and 80's. To
listen to those great old tunes I can't wait to dust off my Pioneer SX-3700
amp, my Technics direct drive quartz turn table, my Akai tape deck, my two
Allison Acoustic 6 cubes and two Dynaco speakers. All middle to upper
quality stuff but that doesn't take away the thrill I'm gonna have playing
it all.

Heh, the 3700 was in the 3rd series of the amazing silver faced run, manuf
in the late 70's, approx. *50 (real) watts per channel*, walnut side panels.
A nice little machine.
Remind me, does this one have the blue lighted dial face?
Akai tape deck, reel or cassette?
My first reel was an Akai, 7" reels, with auto-reverse.
Wish I still had it.
When I say real watts thats what I mean.
Not the ridiculous, and false, claims the manuf's today spout off about in
their black and silver plastic 3 pound pieces of junk.
Your Pioneer will blow most speakers on the market today, stretched woofer
cones, crystalized voice coils and bleached magnets.
I bought a $400 Pioneer receiver back in 1994 and about 2 years ago it
failed.
Rather than throwing it to the curb I opened the 3 pound plastic case to see
what was inside.
It was mainly a hollow box, with a small circuit board in the corner and a
few wires.
I was shocked that that was all that was in there.
If you open the cabinet on my gargantuan Pioneer SX-1250 there is barely
room for dust to accumulate.
Caps as big as Coke cans, transformers big enough to run NYC for 2 weeks.
LOL

That's the one... like this one:
http://tinyurl.com/27cw5e
this one is listed on ebay for almost 600bux... dunno what it would
actually sell for, others are listed and have bids at around 100bux without
the box and papers. I'm glad I kept the box and original manuals...

Nah, it's a double casette deck from the same era... I splurged on the amp
and Allison six speakers like these:
http://tinyurl.com/26d4uh
unlike these on ebay, mine are mint and with the boxes and literature...
Geez... looking at these prices on ebay it makes me think... nah, I'd
rather use them...

You were wise to keep the box and lit. as that makes all the difference in
the world if you sell it.
What it means is that you took real good care of your stuff.
For a few years I bought and sold stereo equip left and right on ebay in an
effort to get the best of the best.
I likes them Pioneers wif the purty blu lites.
I even have a few of the accessory pieces for that series, which I wrongly
quoted before.
The 3700 is in the 4th series not the 3rd.
I have a noise reduction and range expander as well as a reverb unit from
that series.
In fact, I have 2 of each, in the original boxes with manuals.
I have them in both the blue lights and the green lights.
My alltime preference though is from the 2nd series and my big time baby is
my original SX-1250 receiver, 160 watts per ch. which I had a total makeover
done on it last year and it will make your eyes bleed.
You can see it here: http://tinyurl.com/22stet
At 70lbs its not for the light hearted.
If you wanna do your 3700, and your ears, some serious justice do an ebay
search for some 1st series Pioneer HPM-100 speakers.
You'll know the 1st series by the silver ring around the blowhole.
The market is down right now for vintage stereo equipment and you can pick
up a good pair of HPM's for less than $300.
They go 20-20,000hz and thats farther than the human ear can grasp.
You can hear the drumsticks coming OFF the symbols.
Here's what they look like: http://tinyurl.com/26uxjf
Excellent price, but you better hurry, the auction is over in 36 mins.
Or, go whole hog and grab up the daddy's in this series:
http://tinyurl.com/287pux
Your wife will kill you. LOL

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